Trialling physical exercise and psychological support in the treatment of ’broken heart syndrome’

PhysicaL exercise and mental wellbeing rehabilitation for acute stress-induced takotsubo cardiomyopathy: The PLEASE trial

Stress-induced cardiomyopathy – also known as ‘broken heart syndrome’ and ‘takotsubo syndrome’ –is a rare condition where major emotional stress causes symptoms like a heart attack, without blockage of the coronary heart arteries. People with stress-induced cardiomyopathy usually recover well after their initial attack but can go on to develop heart failure, a condition where the heart is not pumping blood around your body as effectively as it should. In this pilot project, Dr Dana Dawson and her team will explore if they can improve heart health of people with this condition through prescribed physical activity or psychological interventions. Volunteers who’ve had a recent episode of broken heart syndrome will be prescribed either a three-month schedule of exercise or mental wellbeing training. The researchers will monitor if either course of treatment helps patients’ hearts to recover and will compare the outcome with standard of care. This trial will indicate whether these two easily implementable and cost effective rehabilitation programmes could help people with broken heart syndrome, for whom no treatment currently exists.